Growing up, Liz Kleinrock never felt like she fit into her Jewish community in Washington, D.C. Born in Korea and adopted into an Ashkenazi family, she constantly felt pressure to justify her Judaism—whether at Hebrew school, summer camp or synagogue. Years later, after becoming a professional antibias and antiracist educator, she met author Caroline Kusin Pritchard, and the two clicked. One day, they got an idea: to create an educational, illustrated, family-friendly book that redefines the face of Judaism—literally.

The result is What Jewish Looks Like, released September 2024, which profiles unconventional Jewish icons. The collection includes British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor, historic Ethiopian community leader Uri Ben Baruch and American trans activist Jazz Jennings—about as varied a scope as one could imagine that crosses skin colour, religious affiliation and cultural identity.

The book's launch has been met warmly in Jewish spaces. And yet, as Kleinrock and Kusin Pritchard tell Rivka Campbell on The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, even on their book tour, they face microaggressions in every city. For them, it's a constant reminder of why this kind of content is needed—not just to educate younger Jewish generations, but older ones as well.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

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• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)

Gad Saad, the Canadian professor and social media icon with well over a million followers online, grew up in Lebanon as one of a rapidly decreasing number of Jews in the 1970s and '80s. He routinely faced genuine, unabashed Jew hatred, hearing "Death to the Jews" chants in the streets—and witnessing his own school friends talk about killing Jews.

Fast-forward to this week, and Israel is preparing a probable ground invasion of southern Lebanon, shortly following their remarkable pager attack on Hezbollah members and assassination of longtime organization leader Hassan Nasrallah. As Lebanon makes headlines around the world, Saad sat down with Rivka Campbell, host of The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, to share stories of the Lebanon he remembers before his family fled for a safer life in Canada. He explains why he always felt close to his Lebanese roots and how he hopes the country can return to a pluralistic, accepting state.

In 2024-2025, Saad is a visiting professor and global ambassador at Northwood University. He joins us from his home city of Montreal.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)

Adiel Cohen remembers Oct. 7 like it was yesterday. He was at his sister's house in Northern Israel when he woke up to hear his phone buzzing with rocket alerts and notifications. His first-ever panic attack washed over him as he realized he would quickly be called back into the army—which happened immediately after Shabbat. That night, Cohen filled a backpack with a few essentials and travelled south on the eerily quiet roads.

After his time fighting in the south, he returned to his studies at Tel Aviv University, but didn't stop fighting for his country. Instead of prepping rocket launchers near Gaza, he took to TikTok and Instagram to argue against anti-Zionists describing his home country as a land of colonizing Europeans. For Cohen, this line of attack is particularly egregious, as one of his biggest inspirations is his grandmother, who came to Israel from Yemen decades ago.

Cohen joins Rivkush, The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, to talk about the history of Yemeni Jews, share his war stories and explain why watermelon is actually a very Israeli fruit.

Credits

• Host: Rivka Campbell
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Westside Gravy

Support The CJN

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to Rivkush (Not sure how? Click here)

When the University of Windsor recently conceded to the demands of its pro-Palestinian encampment protesters, officials signed an agreement that stated, among other anti-Israel sentiments, the post-secondary institution would affirm "its commitment towards principles of decolonization... in the context of the occupation of Palestine."

The narrative of Israel as a colonizing force is synonymous with the modern-day pro-Palestinian movement. But it's a narrative thrust upon Jews and Israelis by non-Jewish actors—a fact that Ysabella Hazan is keen to point out.

The young law school graduate, backed by 40,000 Instagram followers, is a rising star in the Jewish activist space, working out of Montreal to promote a movement and clothing line she calls "Decolonized Judean". It's not just about Israel: Hazan rejects numerous facets of Judaism that seem imposed by non-Jews, as well, such as the Christian concept of God.

Hazan, whose roots are Moroccan, recently joined Rivka Campbell for a live taping of The CJN podcast Rivkush, about noteworthy Jews of colour, at Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Toronto.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and producer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

There's a fact Zilka Joseph likes to toss out to prove how old the Bene Israel culture is: the community, native to the Indian subcontinent, spent centuries unaware of what Hanukkah was. That's because the first Bene Israel people arrived on the shores of modern-day India in 175 BCE, according to some estimates—almost a full decade before the Maccabees fought back against King Antiochus. Blending into the local culture, the Bene Israel people built their unique community without contacting outside Jews until centuries later.

Joseph tells this story, and others, in her new book of poetry, Sweet Malida: Memories of a Bene Israel Woman, published by Mayapple Press. A blend of historical lessons, personal stories and beautiful poems, Joseph weaves together a tapestry of life in India, connecting past and present, examining how her culture has stayed alive despite waves of migration, assimilation and an exodus to Israel shortly after the state's establishment.

Joseph discusses all this on the latest episode of Rivkush, The CJN's podcast spotlighting remarkable Jews of colour, hosted by Rivka Campbell.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and producer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

When Sarah Kolker returned to her hometown neighbourhood in Philadelphia as a young adult, she noticed a run-down park that she grew up around. She remembered how her mom wouldn't let her go to the park at all. But now, the artist and social justice advocate was inspired to help reimagine the public space entirely.

She joined in starting petitions, holding community gatherings, and meeting with politicians and block captains—and ultimately wound up painting a large, colourful mural in the park with her friend and neighbour. Today, with improved lighting and funding from the city, the park hosts festivals regularly and has become a renewed space for children and adults.

Kolker doesn't pretend like her art transformed the place on its own—but it was a key compotent to help galvanize, inspire and unite her hometown community.

It's similar to the work she does as the director of jkid4all, a program for Jewish families of colour in Philadelphia, which aims to foster a cohesive, welcoming, diverse Jewish community in the city. Kolker joins Rivkush, The CJN's podcast about inspiring Jews of colour, to discuss her work both inside and beyond her Jewish community.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

As an Orthodox Jewish woman of colour, Leah Finkelstein knows what it's like to feel like an outsider. Unfortunately, her kids know, too—like when one of them scored a record-breaking triple double for his yeshiva's basketball team, resulting in the school proudly celebrating the box score on an image on social media... with a photo of a different, white teammate. (She complained; they ended up taking it down—not even reposting it with her son's own face.)

Incidents like these, and those endured by her fellow Jews of colour, inspired her to create a new organization in 2023, Am Echad Inclusive Alliance. Based out of New Jersey, the group embraces diversity within the Orthodox community; as the founder, Finkelstein herself is the driving force, engaging new members by hosting communal Shabbat meals and even offering to accompany them to shul.

To discuss her goals and her views on how racism permeates the Orthodox world, Finkelstein joins Rivkush, The CJN's podcast about Jews of colour, for an in-depth conversation.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

Devyani Saltzman was born into the arts and culture world, the daughter of two filmmakers—one Jewish, one Indian. Raised on production sets, she went on to write dozens of articles for newspapers and magazines, become the founding curator at Toronto's Luminato festival and work at numerous arts institutions, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, where she was the director of public programming from 2018 to 2021.

Her current goal is to change the behind-the-scenes makeup of the arts world. Despite how diverse the industry seems from audiences' perspectives, she says, boards are still largely white and many institutions run in an old-fashioned, top-down way. Even when people of colour are included, it's easy to feel like a token gesture.

In this episode of Rivkush, The CJN's podcast featuring Jews of colour, Saltzman sits down with Rivkush for an in-depth conversation about her career, the state of the arts industry and how things can change for the better.

Credits

Rivkush is hosted by Rivka Campbell. Michael Fraiman is the editor and prodcer. Our theme music is by Westside Gravy. The show is sponsored by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.